The Instrument
by emygrl99
Summary: To say Law was surprised was a bit of an understatement. Luffy had never come across to Law as somebody who could ever sit still long enough to do his homework, let alone play an instrument. The one thing he did know was that he couldn't wait for 2:30 to come
1. Chapter 1

**Yo, I don't have much to say about this other than I have a 2nd part planned out with some Dad!Sabo, so keep tuned for that :3 Enjoy!**

 **Beta'd by LeafyxThiefy**

"Luffy, you need to pay more attention in class," Law started, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers.

"You're a bright student, I know you are. If you wouldn't let yourself get so distracted in class and actually tried to focus a little more, you could easily be on the honor roll list," Law said appeasingly, trying to get the boy to understand.

Really, Luffy was a smart kid, if a little goofy at times- nothing Law hasn't dealt with before. There was something different about Luffy though, he had this charismatic aura to him that drew in every single person around him, Law included. Something about Luffy made people want to trust him and follow him in whatever crazy antics he got into. Law had made the mistake of trusting Luffy not to abuse that power, a trust that had clearly been misplaced. Law didn't know how, but somehow Luffy had managed to convince everybody in the class to contribute to his Leaning Tower of iPhones in the middle of a lecture, and what was baffling to Law was that nobody had even been angry with Luffy when the unstable tower finally tipped. It was the opposite actually; it had taken Law a full ten minutes to calm the class down from their laughing fit when it toppled. Which leads to the reason as to why Luffy was currently standing in front Law's desk after class for a talk.

Law honestly liked the kid; Luffy always managed to brighten his day even when Law didn't realize he was feeling down to begin with, and he always had something interesting to say, even if it was completely irrelevant to the lesson they were learning. Something else that was unique about the teen was that Luffy honestly cared about the wellbeing of the people around him, which was more than Law could say about his other students. So if Law sort of happened to accidentally overlook a few incorrectly answered questions on an important test, coincidentally bumping the student's score up a letter grade, it was completely unintentional and it certainly wasn't a thank you of sorts, Law promises.

"Mmhmm. Hey, what's that?" Luffy hummed noncommittally, pointing to a cello sitting in the corner of the room behind the desk.

 _Oh yeah, I need to go get that fixed,_ Law made a mental note to himself. The instrument had broken the other day during orchestra class and the school didn't have much to offer in terms of replacements, so Law had had to bring in his own personal cello for the student to play while this one was getting fixed.

"It's called a cello," Law told him, leaning back in his chair resignedly. He'd known nothing significant would come out of this talk when he'd called the student over, but Law needed to feel like he had at least tried to teach Luffy something, if only to make Law feel a little better about himself at night.

"A cello…" Luffy said thoughtfully, walking around the desk to crouch in front of the instrument. "I've never seen one before."

"Well, it's a string instrument. I also teach the orchestra class here, it's not as popular as the band," Law said hesitantly. The way Luffy was looking at the cello was strange, it made Law feel wary of what the student was about to do. To say Luffy was unpredictable at times was an understatement.

"It's broken, I need to take it in to be repaired. See the split on the side here?" Law got up, pointing out where the front of the instrument had started separating from the side, the glue finally flaking off after years and years of use. Luckily, the student who played this particular cello had noticed the split before it'd gotten too bad. Replacing broken instruments was a pain in the ass, not to mention expensive and time-consuming.

Luffy didn't reply to that. Instead, he picked up the cello carefully as if it was made out of glass instead of a sturdy maple. He then carried it over to a desk and sat down, placing the instrument in his lap and examining it curiously. Law fought the urge to snap at him to put the cello down before he broke it further, but something told Law that Luffy wouldn't break it. Not on purpose, at least.

"Do you need more?" Luffy asked suddenly after a moment of silence.

"Do I need more what?" Law frowned, not following Luffy's train of thought.

"More cello players. In orchestra."

"Oh." To say Law was surprised was a bit of an understatement. Luffy had never come across to Law as somebody who could ever sit still long enough to do his homework, let alone play an instrument. And a cello, nonetheless!

 _I would have pictured him being a violin player, something more exciting and difficult,_ Law mused, but he couldn't deny how good of a fit that cello was to Luffy. And upon further reflection, a cello was probably the safest instrument for him to play without accidentally breaking it somehow. Knowing Luffy, he would most definitely find a way, Law was certain of it.

"Do you want to learn how to play?" Law asked, still feeling skeptical.

Of course the orchestra needed more cellos. He needed more students in general actually, the orchestra wasn't as popular as it used to be. There were only about a dozen students playing this year and ⅔ of them were violins, which was creating big balance problems in their music. Law would take whatever he could get, Luffy included.

"Yeah, I'd like that," Luffy smiled up at him, and Law nodded.

"Meet me in the orchestra room every day after school from 2:30 to 3:30 for the next two weeks or so. I'll show you the basics, and if you're still feeling up to it two weeks from now, we can talk to guidance about adding the class to your schedule."

Luffy nodded excitedly at this, his grin stretching impossibly wide on his face, and Law found himself smiling too, already eager for the school day to end so he could start teaching Luffy how to play. Law was so excited for the meeting that he had completely forgotten the reason for calling the student over here in the first place, but he was reminded when the bell rang, signaling the start of the next period and making both of them jump in surprise.

"You may leave," Law allowed, scribbling Luffy a quick note for his teacher explaining why he was late. Law had expected Luffy to jump up and run out the door, but to his surprise, the boy stood up slowly, careful not to jostle the cello in his lap. He returned it to to its spot in the corner before taking the note and offering Law another small smile, quietly exiting the classroom.

Law let out a breath and leaned back in his chair, glancing up at the clock by the door. He couldn't wait for 2:30 to come around.


	2. Chapter 2

**And here's the second half of Luffy playing cello, featuring Ace and Dadbo! :D And I was just wondering, would any of you interested in a mini bonus chapter that would take place between the first and second parts? Like a chapter 1.5? Let me know (: Enjoy!**

 **Beta'd by LeafyxThiefy**

"Good luck!" Sabo called after his youngest son who was retreating from the car. With a wide smile, Luffy turned and gave Sabo and Ace a wave before entering the building, and Sabo drove off to search for a parking spot.

Tonight was the night of Luffy's first orchestra concert, and oddly enough, the teen didn't seem worried at all about the performance despite picking up his instrument for the first time a mere month ago. Sabo wasn't sure what to make of Luffy's confidence, but he had made sure to get tonight off from work so that he'd be able to come and see Luffy play, even if he didn't end up not playing a lot.

As Sabo and Ace took their seats in the auditorium where the concert was being held, Sabo noticed a package sticking out of Ace's pocket. Curiously, he pulled it out when Ace was distracted, and chuckled as once he identified its contents.

"Earplugs? Really, Ace? Don't you have any faith in your brother?" Sabo asked and lightly tossed the package back to Ace, who was now looking at him with a sheepish expression.

"You know how Luffy is, he can't sit still for anything. I'm just preparing for the worst case scenario here," he huffed defensively, and Sabo smiled at Ace, ruffling his hair affectionately.

"Either way, he's worked extremely hard during his lessons and is excited to show us what he's accomplished, he hasn't shut up about tonight at all this past month," Sabo reminded him, and Ace rolled his eyes but Sabo could tell he was just as interested in seeing his little brother play as Sabo was.

The lights dimmed and the quiet chatter of the attending parents died down, all of their focus set on the now brightly lit up stage. It was then that all the students came out and took their seats, and the director helped them get organized for a moment before turning to the audience.

Admittedly, Sabo didn't pay much attention to the director's speech, choosing to instead search through the orchestra for Luffy, but he couldn't find him for some reason.

"And without further delay-" the director stopped, distracted by something off to the side of the stage hidden behind the curtains, and a few parents in the crowd chuckled at the irony.

"What are you.." the director trailed off, looking momentarily confused at something that the audience couldn't see. But after a moment's pause, Luffy stepped out from behind the curtain in front of the crowd, looking sheepish.

"Sorry! I fell asleep," Luffy grinned, and the audience laughed again at the boy's lack of shame. The director huffed like he was used to this kind of behaviour, which Sabo didn't doubt for a moment that he was.

"Take a seat, take a seat." The director motioned urgently at the teen who quickly complied, settling his instrument in his lap and putting on a show of paying absolute attention to his teacher.

"As I was saying, without further delay, we will now start the concert," the director finally finished and turned to the orchestra, his back to the audience.

They played the first song–something sweet and slow, but Sabo's focus fell mainly on Luffy, looking for any signs that suggested his son was struggling, but Luffy seemed to be easily keeping up with the other more experienced students.

The second song was much more upbeat than the first, and Sabo noticed that Ace had the package of earplugs ready, a wary look still on his face.

The third song played–Mozart, if Sabo was identifying it correctly. They had handed out programmes at the door, but Sabo gave his copy to Ace, thinking that his son was actually taking an interest in the concert, but he'd only made a paper airplane out of the paper and tossed it across the room.

When the fourth and final song began, Sabo could tell Ace was getting restless from all of this sitting with nothing to do. This song was clearly more advanced than the ones prior, and Sabo worried for Luffy. It wasn't that he didn't think Luffy could handle it, cause once Luffy was determined to do something, not even God himself was able to stop him. No, Sabo just didn't want Luffy to be put off from the cello just cause he couldn't play one song.

As he was thinking this, one of the stage spotlights brightened, focusing on a single person, and to Sabo's surprise, that person was none other than Luffy. He listened as Luffy began playing a long, intricate solo passionately, looking as if the instrument was nothing more than an extension of himself, and Sabo could feel his jaw drop. If he didn't know any better, he would have claimed Luffy had been playing since birth at the very least. He just looked so confident and utterly focused, Sabo had to question if that was actually his son he was looking at, and not some kid that happened to look just like him. But no, that was obviously Luffy, Sabo recognized the oddly colored tie he was wearing, a bright red that stood out sharply from the black outfits the rest of the orchestra was wearing.

The moment the song ended, the audience rose in a well deserved thunderous applause that lasted at least five minutes, an astounding feat for a high school orchestra.

"Thank you, and have a good night," the director said once the applause finally died down, and was that a smug look Sabo was seeing on his face?

"Luffy, that was.." Sabo said when he finally caught up to his son after the performance

"...incredible," Ace finished for him, and Sabo nodded fervently in agreement.

"And you said you didn't even know what a cello was over a month ago?" Sabo asked his son suspiciously. How could he have gotten so good so quickly? And only with short after school practices? It was unbelievable, in every sense of the word.

"Nope!" Luffy grinned, looking extremely pleased with himself. _As he should be after playing a solo like that,_ Sabo allowed, patting his son's back affectionately.

"Well I'll be the first to say that you did very well," Sabo complimented him, and Luffy's infectious smile spread to his face as well as Ace's, even though the teen tried to hide it. Sabo knew that Ace was proud of his brother, no matter what jokes he had made before.

"So how about we three go get ice cream to celebrate Luffy's amazing solo?" Sabo suggested, and was answered with loud cheers as the two brothers raced off to their parked car. Sabo followed behind at his own pace, a smile still on his face while discreetly dropping the earplugs he'd hidden in his sleeve earlier into the trash can on his way out.


End file.
